1 Nephi 5

Sunday, June 23, 2013

When Nephi and his brothers left to go into the wilderness and had not returned for several days, Sariah began to complain and murmur against her husband, Lehi. When Sariah does this, it shows her little faith in the Lord. The Lord was the one who commanded Nephi and his brothers to go out into the wilderness and get the plates from Laban. Since the Lord told them to do this, He will also protect them for being faithful and doing what He asked them to do.

Lehi, though, tries to comfort his wife and tells her “and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban and bring the down again unto us in the wilderness” (verse 5). When Lehi says this, he demonstrates his complete faith and trust in the Lord. In this manner, we should all strive to be like Lehi and trust the Lord will protect us and will help us in our times of need.

The sons, of course, do return from the wilderness and are fine. Sariah and her husband were overjoyed to see their sons again. In verse 8, Sariah tells them that she now believes and has faith in the Lord. But I don’t believe that truly is faith because to have faith is to trust in things that are not seen, which are true and Sariah had to see in order to believe. If she had really had faith, she would have trusted what she could not see, which was the Lord’s promise.

Lehi read through the records his sons had obtained. As Lehi read through the records, he “saw all these things, [and] he was filled with the Spirit” (verse 17). The Books of Moses were also with these records. I think it is so cool to think that the books of Moses which are located in the Pearl of Great Price are from this long ago. We can know that these things are true by prayer and also because of Joseph Smith. Heavenly Father would never allow a prophet to write something if it were not true. Nephi was a prophet and so was Joseph Smith. Nephi wrote this book (the Book of Nephi) and Joseph Smith put it into the English language (by writing it). So we now have two witnesses and God that these things are true. Therefore, they must be.

And in verse 22, Nephi tells us that the Lord had a purpose for the plates. We can conclude that there is a purpose for everything the Lord does and asks us to do. He really does know what He’s doing, so strive to trust Him completely, even when things are difficult.